Lately, I’ve been taking a break from doing deliveries and using the time to completely unwind and watch television in my evenings, catching up on several shows that have been on my endless notepad document list of things I want to watch. Where with every series that I catch up on, three more are added to the list, and it’ll probably never come close to being finished.
Regardless, I’m of the type that doesn’t really like to bounce around too much, and once I get locked into a specific series, I pretty much spend every available minute watching that series if I can help it. I’m currently going through Better Call Saul (fantastic show, btw), but when I got wind that Black Mirror was going to be dropping season 6 soon, I knew that they were going to be an exception that got to jump the queue and interrupt my nightly binges of Saul Goodman.
The good part about seasons of Black Mirror is that they’re short, so there’s not a tremendous time commitment that needs to go to them. It’s easy to finish a season in a week, over a binge-y weekend, or for those who have little else in terms of responsibilities, in a night if you’re ambitious.
The bad part about seasons of Black Mirror is that they’re short, and if you’re really enjoying all of the stories, it’s over in the blink of an eye, and just like that you’re back to the same place you were last week; in a world where there’s no upcoming new season of Black Mirror and wondering when it is until the next one.
At five episodes in total, it’s up to quality to determine how good of a season S6 was going to be, and when it comes to Black Mirror, I typically judge them on a three-part criteria, where the overall grade is mostly determined on the aggregate. I judge each episode on: technology, writing and artistry, where the best episodes excel at all of them, where other episodes throughout the series have been up and down in some but not all.
So with all that in mind, let’s talk about Black Mirror S6, and there will probably be spoilers in this diatribe so be warned for all zero people who read my shit.
#1: Beyond the Sea, episode 3
This is obviously the one episode that the series put most of their eggs in, this season. With star power out the wazoo with Aaron Paul, Josh Hartnett and Kate Mara headlining the episode, it’s a good story that does well in all facets of my judging scale, but it’s the technology aspect where they’re at the top of the class of all episodes this season. The writing is solid, but it’s a pretty predictable plot, and doesn’t have any of the real wtf jaw drop plot twists that some fans like me come to expect from the series in general.
Tech: 10
Writing: 7
Artistry: 8
#2: Joan Is Awful, episode 1
Rubric-wise, Joan Is Awful isn’t my #1 episode of the season, but on a personal entertainment level, I’d still say it was my favorite episode of the season. It’s a fun and entertaining episode that made me laugh, and not feel all depressed and thinking about my existence like a lot of heavier Black Mirror episodes have accomplished in seasons past. I’m a fan of Annie Murphy in general, but the tech was above average, the writing was entertaining and had a little bit of a twist, and if there’s an episode this season where my mind thinks of when thinking of the season as a whole, it’s this one.
Tech: 7
Writing: 7
Artistry: 5
#3: Loch Henry, episode 2
Without question, the strongest writing of the season was this episode. It’s funny because it comes up in later episodes or just in discussions about some of the less-popular episodes throughout the series, about how when an episode doesn’t feel like an episode of Black Mirror because they’re lacking in something, usually technology, because that’s kind of what the series was built on. But Loch Henry is an interesting case, because it’s an episode that has no advanced technology, or much technology at all to begin with, but it’s still a strong episode based on its strength of writing along with a lot of beautiful cinematography that acts like a brochure for Scotland tourism. As the plot unfolds, it still manages to feel like Black Mirror, even with the handicap in technology, which puts it firmly in the upper tier of the season.
Tech: 2
Writing: 10
Artistry: 6
#4: Demon 79, episode 5
Literally the only thing that made this a Black Mirror episode is the fact that in the opening credits it said “Black Mirror Presents.” This episode could have stood alone entirely on its own outside of Black Mirror, but I suppose being slapped with that Black Mirror inclusion is what is going to get people to see this in the first place, because I really can’t say that I’d have sought this out on my own if not.
Taking place on Earth in 1979, the episode has no technology to speak of whatsoever, but the writing is strong with a linear plot with a few twists and swerves to keep things interesting. The stylization of the whole episode is done well, and makes it feel like a piece from the 70s as if I know what it’s like since I was born in the 80s. It’s an entertaining episode in its own right, but it very much falls into that category of “not feeling like” Black Mirror, which is what drops this to the lower tier of the season.
Tech: 1
Writing: 8
Artistry: 8
#5: Mazey Day, episode 4
Which brings us to the bottom of the rankings, we have Mazey Day. Not only did this episode not feel anything at all like an episode of Black Mirror, the writing was not particularly thrilling, artistically there’s nothing that stands out or redeems the rest of the episode. Swirling around paparazzi in Los Angeles, there’s nothing at all technological about the story, and as a whole, it almost hurts the Black Mirror brand by having this be a part of the catalog of episodes than it does any benefit. I like Zazie Beetz a lot as an actress, but her participation alone doesn’t redeem what might be the worst episode not just in the season, but in the series as a whole. Needs more analysis.
Tech: 1
Writing: 4
Artistry: 2
As a whole though, I feel as if the series picked up some steam from the previous season, which swung for the fences with Bandersnatch, and relied more on star power and a short season to carry them through their obligation of making a S5, so it’s nice to see them come back a little bit to their roots and just producing a normal season of individual stories.
They’ve shown that they can write stories that can still feel like Black Mirror without needing to imagine tech or repurpose the end of the world as being produced by Boston Robotics, which means there’s more left in the tank for future episodes than I would’ve said after the preceding season wrapped.
